April 24, 2012

Today heavy riff portal The Obelisk offers up a stream of "Slain In Spirit" from mystical doom conjurers IDES OF GEMINI. The song comes off of the West Coast trio’s forthcoming new studio offering, Constantinople, set for North American release via Neurot Recordings on May 29, 2012.

Notes guitarist/backing vocalist J. Bennett of the track: “‘Slain In Spirit’ might be the only IDES OF GEMINI song -- so far -- that actually addresses lyrically what we try to accomplish sonically: The trance state. The state of being neither here nor there. If that's not pretentious enough for you, try this: Idris Parry, the late, great scholar of German literature, once pointed out that just as there are gaps between the fingers, there are gaps between the senses. ‘In these gaps,’ he said, ‘is the darkness which hides the connection between all things.’ As much as ‘Slain In Spirit’ is a song easily and obviously discernible by the human ear, it very much aspires to create something that at least hints at that intangible darkness.”

Exclusive pre-orders of Constantinople are currently available through the IDES OF GEMINI blog. Limited to just 33 CDs, each pre-order will be bundled with stickers and a handmade candle made by vocalist Sera Timms, meant to be burned while the album plays for maximum atmosphere. In three of those candles will be a crystal that can be retrieved by burning the candle most of the way down. The crystal can then be mailed back to the band and exchanged for a Disruption Writ EP, cassette and one other exclusive item still to be announced.

IDES OF GEMINI will take their brooding hymns to the stage to the stage tomorrow on the Los Angeles stop of the long-anticipated Decibel Magazine Tour with Behemoth, Watain, The Devil’s Blood and In Solitude. In addition, the band has been officially added to this year’s edition of the Scion Rock Fest, set to take place at the Ritz Theatre in Tampa, Florida.IDES OF GEMINI will appear alongside the likes of Sleep, Merzbow, Church of Misery, All Pigs Must Die and more!

“Their accretion of small musical gestures inverts metal’s normal use of space. They imply terror without ever exposing it. Each song is an accumulation of outlines, a sort of sonic daguerreotype.” – MetalSucks

“Whereas Black Math Horseman makes you feel as if you’ve taken a wrong turn into a desolate medieval village, illuminated by the flicker of mere lanterns, IDES OF GEMINI hovers above complete darkness in a realm that can only be felt by those who welcome it.” – This Is Not A Scene